Meet Susan Chy, the CEO and Co-founder of HappyHire, a fresh new start-up focused on lead generation for HR, sales, and marketing teams. In addition to leading her own company, Susan is also a people leader at Vera, an innovative AI startup, and the cryptocurrency firm MMM Capital. With a rich background at industry giants like Google and Amazon, Susan is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and building strong foundations for thriving cultures at early-stage companies.

What are the essential ingredients for creating a workplace where employees are empowered and motivated to contribute? When it comes to empowerment at work, people often think about incentives, perks, benefits, and career development, all of which are valid and important. But I’ve come to realize that recognition is also really powerful — and it doesn't even cost anything. I shared an anecdote about how, when I worked at JUUL, a general manager introduced me not by my title, but by what I did for the company. That made me see myself in a new light. For someone that high up to speak so highly of me was really empowering. It’s crucial that upper management and leadership value their employees and take the time to express it.

Why is company culture such a valuable investment? To create an environment where employees are passionate about goals and reaching them, it's important to get your HR and people acquisition sorted properly the first time around to build the right foundation. It's much harder to fix chaos than to put things in order initially. Culture isn’t just created out of the blue; it has to be nurtured from that foundation.

I've worked at a few companies and been exposed to different ways to set up companies, which definitely affects how culture is born. Of course, different companies and industries inherently have different cultures — but it all comes down to whether the executive team decides to actually be a people-first company.

What specific strategies do you use to build that community?

I believe people are the foundation of a company. If you have a shaky foundation, everything you build on top will be unstable. If you don't get it right from the beginning, you're going to spend much more time and money fixing misalignment issues, which disrupts growth. It's important to get your HR and people acquisition sorted properly the first time around to build the right foundation. It's much harder to fix chaos than to put things in order initially.

Hiring the right people initially is key. Sometimes people may hold things in just to get a job, which leads to resentment, job dissatisfaction, low activity, and eventually quiet quitting. Transparent environments where people feel comfortable enough to bring up issues are crucial. With individual and team measures, HR often has engagement measures. The happiest cultures combine transparency and support.

Of course, when it comes to transparency… Resource groups or employee resource groups are important for keeping teams happy.